Tribes in Ancient India c63.10

c63.10

With regard to the location of Avanti, the sage Dhaumya (Vanaparvan, Mbh.), in enumerating the places of pilgrimage in W. India, refers to the country of the Avantis,¹ and speaks of the sacred river Narmadā as being situated therein. At the beginning of the Virāṭaparvan, Arjuna mentions Avanti along with other kingdoms in W. India, namely, Surāṣṭra and Kunti (IV, 1, 12). The geographical connection between the Avantis and the Kuntis is also shown in the description of ‘Bhāratavarṣa’ in the Bhīṣmaparvan (VI, 9, 350). A path leading to the city of Avanti is referred to in the Nalopākhyāna of the Vanaparvan (III, 61, 2317). Mrs. Rhys Davids notes² that Avanti lay north of the Vindhya mountains north-west of Bombay. It was one of the four chief monarchies in India when Buddhism arose, and was later absorbed into the Mauryan empire.